There has been a continuing effort to improve steel flow circulation and reduce turbulence in a continuous casting mold receiving a stream of molten steel delivered through a SEN. One particular improvement is the development of a bifurcated port discharge end that enables better distribution of the molten steel delivered to the casting mold, for example as disclosed in Cahoon (U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,251) or Lee (U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,126).
However, although such bifurcated port nozzles improve molten steel flow patterns within casting molds, the past SEN designs fail to maintain a calm or still liquid reservoir of molten steel within the mold. For example, when it is necessary for operators to adjust the slide gate that controls the rate of molten steel draining from the tundish to the mold, such slide gate adjustments cause disruptive or erratic changes in the molten steel flow discharged from the bifurcated port into the caster mold. Such erratic changes make it difficult to maintain good flow control within the mold. Additionally, the steel flow fluctuations associated with slide gate adjustments may form eddies and/or vortexes within the molten steel reservoir and entrain mold powder and/or slag within the cast steel product.